Posts Tagged ‘why do carpets shed’

Carpet pilling is a condition directly related to carpet shedding. Sometimes the vacuum cleaner cannot keep up with the amount of fluff coming from the pile. The brushes are unable to completely pull the fuzz from the carpet pile. The fluff collects on the surface of the carpet. With walking, the fuzz rolls up into little balls called pills. Soon the carpet looks like an old sweater.

If the vacuum isn’t working properly to remove shedding, your carpet will pill. Check to make sure the belt is on correctly. Is the vacuum bag more than half full? Empty it. Is the brush set at the right height? Proper height adjustment allows the brushes to remove the fuzz without overly beating the pile.

If the vacuum is working efficiently and the carpet is pilling, call your retailer. He may need to call for a carpet inspector to determine the cause of the pilling. Sometimes an unused piece of scrap can be sent to a testing laboratory to see if it’s made correctly.

Shedding is common to all new carpet, especially cut-pile carpet. Some fuzz is produced by the shearing process and remains in the pile. Both continuous filament and staple yarns shed fuzz and fluff when new. You must vacuum out this excess fiber. It takes anywhere from two weeks to three months to remove most of the fuzz. It may appear that a lot of fiber is disappearing into the vacuum bag, but compared to the overall weight of the carpet face yarn, it isn’t much at all.

One advantage of carpet made with continuous filament yarn is that once the initial fuzz is gone, the fabric stops shedding entirely. Staple yarns always shed, at least a little. Cheaper plush carpets sometimes are made with short staple-spun yarns that can shed a lot throughout the life of the carpet. Sometimes shedding is not normal. If the filaments that are spun together (more…)

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Glenn Revere is a nationally recognized Carpet Inspector who has dedicated his life to the study, maintenance, and sales of carpets. He specializes in carpet, laminate, hardwood, and engineered flooring. Glenn consults for individuals, manufacturers, and installers.